Destiny Days
by magicharm
Summary: After Galaxia's defeat, Serena is sent to London by her parents to prevent her from 'the wrong crowd', and she hasn't contacted her friends or Darien in years. What happens when a new Negaverse evil appears and she needs the Sailor Scouts and Tuxedo Mask
1. Default Chapter

….I'm Serena Tsukino, 21 years old, lost in a haze of work and identity. I'm still clumsy, and still a crybaby. But actually, I used to be the fighter for love and justice, Sailor Moon…

Serena heaved a big sigh as she fumbled around in her shoulder bag for her apartment keys. Lately, she was feeling increasingly tired, and couldn't wait to collapse onto her bed, despite its tiny size. 

'Living in London has its benefits, but when it comes to living, this place is a real bummer if you don't have money,' she thought bitterly, 'at least there's always work for blondes who get fired every time they trip over a customer's foot.'

Finally finding her key, she shoved it into the rusty door hole and twisted, tiredly wrenching the jammed door open. 

'Must get that fixed,' Serena thought, not for the first time.

"Luna! I'm home!" she called out as she entered the dingy apartment.

It was all Serena could afford, after her parents flew her off to England to prevent her 'falling in with the wrong crowd' after her magnificent defeat of Galaxia's chaos. She had been heartbroken when her father, in his twisted form of concern, drove her to the airport that very night, not even allowing her a goodbye to her fellow friends and Scouts, or her beloved Darien.

The Moon Princess had tried to convince her parents that her destiny was for real, even showing them her star seed, which she had discovered after the battle, was still implanted into her chest. They accused her of witchcraft, cursing her cherished friends, giving her an ultimatum: either she flies to England and cut off all contact from those 'troublemakers', or is disowned from the family.

So Serena, in subdued tears all the way, flew to London and started work as a waitress, moving from café to café. She was still too shocked to believe that the normal life she had always wanted as a teenager was finally being given to her, but she didn't want it. She wanted to be Sailor Moon. Or Princess Serenity. Or even just Darien's girlfriend. 

Instead of continuing her studies (what was the point? She was always falling asleep anyway!) , her parents had marginally supported her financially until she turned 18, then telling her to find her own source of income in the middle of London. Serena had waited for her younger brother to come out as well, her only other supporter when she had moved, but he had disappointed her by flying to America instead, working for a mega-manga company.

"Ah, Serena! How was work?" Luna asked, jumping nimbly off the tattered couch in the living room. 

"Boring, as usual," she said, stifling a yawn, "I don't understand why I have to wake up so early to work in a café that I'm going to eventually get fired from. This kills."

Serena dropped her bag on the couch, and collapsed into it, lovingly scratching Luna's head when she had leapt into her lap. Serena could feel the exhaustion overwhelming her.

Although she was already 21 and could leave, Serena hadn't found the heart to return to Tokyo. 'All of them must hate me for leaving like that, especially Darien. How could they ever want me back?' she thought bitterly.

"I used to be so great, Luna," she whispered, "What happened?"

Even after six years, the memories of the past, friends and Darien still plagued Serena every day.

The cat sighed.

"I do not know, my Princess," Luna replied, melancholy.

The two of them sat in silence, as they had done previously every night.

Fog, so similar to Sailor Mercury's Bubble Blast in the early days, was shrouding her. Serena knew she was wearing her Princess Serenity dress, and it felt wonderful. It felt like home. 

Suddenly the fog was gone, and Serena looked around, puzzled. There was complete oblivion surrounding her, until a blood red rose shot out of nowhere, landing at her feet.

Seeing it, she gasped in disbelief.

"Darien?"

But then the rose began to wilt, its petals turning black, crumbling at her feet.

"NO!", she cried as she swiftly bent down, trying in vain to collect the ashes.

Then she heard the sound of feet approaching and looked up to see her beloved Sailor Scouts coming towards her. Amy, Raye, Lita, Mina…

She tried to call their names, but the four girls raised their hands, stealing her voice. She watched in horror as the silver orb was wrenched out of her throat and travelled into their palms. When it hit, they absorbed it, and the four girls' voices began to speak as one.

"I am the Spirit of the Sailor Team. Hear me out, Princess Serenity," a commanding, yet oddly gentle voice sounded out.

Serena was about to rudely point out that she didn't really have a choice since the Spirit had stolen her voice. The Spirit heard her emotions somehow, and surprisingly, chuckled.

"Full of radiance still, young one, despite all your misgivings," the Voice said, "but I am here to issue warning. There is great evil approaching, Princess, and you must once again reach your peak of power in order to stop it."

There was a great flash, and a horrendous picture of Tokyo emerged, being overrun by creatures of the Negaverse. There was awful screaming that made Serena want to curl up and shut her ears. The images swiftly changed: innocent citizens being collapsing on the streets, weak from energy drainage, other children killed in the process. 

Then Serena saw it. The worse picture of all: the Sailor Scouts and Tuxedo Mask, possessed, wreaking havoc across Tokyo. It made her cry out, although she had no voice, to see her friends act like that. 

The images drew to a close, revealing the tear-streaked face of Serena, shaking, and the bodies of the Sailor Scouts in front of her, oblivion surrounding them once more.

"This is what will happen if you do not stop them, Princess Serenity," the Voice said sorrowfully, as it began to fade out, "you must fight once again."

She wanted to know more, but Serena was jerked out of her sleep. The star seed in her chest was throbbing with heat, and she sat up in bed, clutching it tightly. She cleared her throat, wondering if her voice had returned. It had.

"Serena, what's wrong?" Luna asked as she raised her head from the bed, worried.

Grim determination set itself in the Princess' eyes, and facing Luna, she asked, "Can you contact the Sailor Scouts? Looks like there's another baddie coming."


	2. II

A/N: Hello, thanks for all the reviews! They've been wonderful. Just so you know, this story is a bit on the gloomy side, and focuses on Darien/Serena. I didn't mention that before, so…it's really what happens when Serena loses her friendship with the Scouts because they think that she's betrayed them by moving away.

So enjoy the story! And please keep reviewing!

magicharm

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"Serena, are you positively sure about this?" Luna asked worriedly.

The 21-year old cast melancholy eyes to her cat, and only friend left. Luna could see the dim spark of determination in the Moon Princess' wide blue orbs, pleased that after so many years, the life in her owner and Princess had returned. 

'Still', Luna thought anxiously, 'this could break Serena terribly. If the Scouts reject her, she'll be on her own to fight this Negaverse evil. Not to mention how heartbroken she would be if Darien wouldn't support her…'

"I'm positive, Luna," Serena murmured, "I've waited too long to do this."

Giving a sharp nod, the cat focused her energy, picturing the beautiful Scouts in her mind, and Serena watched nervously as the crescent moon lit up brightly, a stark contrast to Luna's black fur. Thin streams of light began to filter out from the crescent, Luna trying to muster up all her energy to complete the link; it had been quite a few years since she had done such strong magic.

The rays of light created an eerie glow on the downy mattress that Serena and Luna were sitting on. The Moon Princess gasped as the light became stronger by the second, finally revealing the first face that Luna had managed to contact: Amy.

Small tears managed to stubbornly leak out of Serena's eyes as she saw Amy bolt up in her bed, looking around curiously at whatever Luna was saying in her mind. The first Sailor Scout had been recovered, and Serena's heart leapt in joy and reminiscence at her dear friend with her still, short crop of hair, mussed about from sleep.

'Amy, this is Luna, wake up.'

'Luna? What on Earth…where are you?'

 'My dear Amy, how we have missed you so. But I am afraid that Serena has particularly bad timing. Negaverse evils are coming back to Earth. We need the Sailor Scouts again.'

'Serena? Is she there? How is she?'

'She's here. She misses all of the girls terribly. If all goes well with my mind links, we shall be returning to Tokyo as soon as possible. We are in dire danger.'

'Yes, of course. Tell Serena I miss her too. Luna, she should know that Darien moved away immediately after she left. He was heartbroken. I don't know where he is.'

'Oh dear, Serena will not take this well. Thank you anyway Amy, we'll see you soon.'

'And Luna? Why did she leave?'

The cat paused, unsure of whether to reveal the answer yet or not.

'It is not my place to say, dear Amy. Serena may tell you when we get back.'

Serena watched with anxious eyes as the light fizzed away into the darkness. 

"What did she say?" she asked.

"Amy said she misses you terribly, dear Serena. But also that Darien has left Tokyo," the cat replied, adding the last bit carefully.

Luna watched as hope crumbled in Serena's eyes and felt an immense sadness for her young Princess. Serena shut her eyes briefly, pushing the pain that had suddenly struck her heart down and murmured to Luna, who was still watching with her sharp eyes.

"Keep contacting the others," she whispered, avoiding the subject of her love altogether.

All through the night, Luna spent, tiredly mind-linking all the other Scouts. They were all still in Tokyo, occasionally transforming to fight demons that had strayed down to their planet. Unfortunately, there was increasing hostility towards Serena as Luna contacted the other three Scouts. The link that burned the most though, not surprisingly, was Raye's, the last that Luna tried to mind-link.

'Fine, Luna. Just tell Serena that she hurt too many people to come back to Tokyo unscathed. She is not my friend.'

The words were spoken with a harshness that Luna had only seen Raye project towards Negaverse evils before. She cautiously told Serena what Raye's severe words, wanting to give a warning to Serena: things were not going to be the same when they returned.

Serena didn't reply. She just cast a glance at Luna before crawling into her bed, snuggling against her cat. 

"Serena, don't you want to try contact Darien?" Luna asked, although she was exhausted by the effort.

The Moon Princess shook her head. 

"He's left Tokyo, Luna. If he was still fighting evil, he would've stayed to help the Scouts. Darien's gone, and I'll just have to face that," she whispered, tears streaming out of her eyes.

Luna felt an awful sympathy rise out of her at the sight of Serena so broken. But there was nothing she could do to mend a torn heart. Sighing, she curled up against her mistress and tried to soothe her to sleep.

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"Ladies and gentleman, please fasten your seatbelts as the captain prepares for touchdown. We shall be landing in approximately five minutes."

Serena sat in her seat, watching the clouds dissipate outside the window as the plane started to descend. She had managed to rummage enough money to get a one-way ticket to Tokyo. She gladly quit her café job, and sold her apartment, using the money to buy her ticket and a few clothes to survive.

She missed Luna. Serena had to pack her away in a pet-cage that was horribly restricting to her cat, but she wasn't allowed to be on the plane with her. 

'Five minutes,' Serena thought, 'just five more minutes…'

The plane jerked as it hit the runway, and Serena yawned as the stewardess' voice came back on, "On behalf of British Airways, the cabin crew would like to thank you for flying with us today. Have a good day in Tokyo!"

The Princess scrambled out of her seat the second the seatbelt sign was flicked off. Swiftly, she managed to lug her carry-bag out of the compartment above her, but shrieked as she fell backwards…into someone's lap.

"Oh God," she moaned, shutting her eyes. She really didn't need her klutziness now.

"Serena?" the person asked, in shocked tone.

That voice. Oh God, it sounded familiar.

"Darien?!" she whispered, opening her eyes.

Hazel orbs met hers, and Serena couldn't move. It was him, he was here, and oh, he felt good.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, still in shock. Never in a million…he had given up hope a long time ago. 

Serena didn't answer. Instead, she jumped out of his seat and ran. This could not be happening…not now. She had wanted to see him, but not like this. Definitely, not this way. 

'I can't deal with this, not yet, not yet, not yet…' Serena thought, panicked.

She sprinted out of the plane and hurriedly went to pick up Luna. Once she found her, she gave her a big hug, found her suitcase and caught the nearest taxi in record time. She didn't speak throughout the whole taxi ride, and Luna had the sense not to talk in front of the cabbie.

"Serena, what on Earth is the matter with you?" Luna asked, once they had reached their motel, "You didn't drink any wine on the plane, did you?"

The Moon Princess let out a sharp laugh.

"Oh, if only I did, Luna. Then maybe I wouldn't have fallen into Darien's lap," she bit out.

Luna fell silent once again as Serena dragged her suitcase into the motel, and finding her room, collapsed on the bed. 

"I wasn't ready, Luna," she sighed, "I couldn't see him like that, I just couldn't."

Luna wondered where the Serena who was bright and bubbly had gone, the girl who would have jumped at the chance to just meet Darien in the street. The Serena who didn't have the weight of the world on her shoulders.

Night fell, and Serena had slept her jetlag away. She hadn't eaten anything, but waved Luna off when her cat had suggested they stop by a fast food joint. Luna had spent the day arranging a time to meet with the other Scouts: 8 p.m. at the Cherry Hill temple, their usual meeting place.

Luna glanced at a small clock on the bedside table; 7:30. 

"Serena, wake up, you've got half an hour," Luna called, jumping on the Princess.

Groggily, Serena woke up, washed her face and smoothed down her clothes. She was out the door with Luna in five minutes, a change for the girl who was always late in high school. As they walked through the city, Serena glanced fondly at places that she remembered from her childhood: the arcade, the theme park, the McDonalds…

Serena wondered if Andrew was still working in the arcade, but decided not to stop, in case she was late. Once they reached the corner of Cherry Hill, Serena stopped, seeing the hazy lights that filtered down from the temple at the top.

"Are you okay, Serena?" Luna asked.

'It's been so long…they'll hate me…I can only hope for their help in this…'

"I'm fine, Luna," she said, walking up the hill.

'It's now or never…I need them…'


	3. III

A/N: Sorry I took so long in updating! But here's a nice chappie for you, please keep reviewing! 

By the way, Mars is a real b*tch in this chapter, but I've only made her that way to show how hurt she was by Serena leaving. I think this is the way she would have reacted if she was hurt really badly.

magicharm

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"What are we going to say?" a voice drifted out.

"I'm more worried about what _she's_ going to say," replied another.

'It has been too long,' Serena thought, treading softly up the wooden steps leading to the rice paper door, 'I can't even recognise their voices.'

She raised a hand to push it gently, but stopped, dropping it. Her breaths came out quickly, too quickly. Luna looked at her anxiously from near her feet, and in comfort, purred softly and slinked around Serena's legs. The Moon Princess gave her a weak smile and raised her hand again, this time, quietly sliding the door open.

Three pairs of eyes swiveled towards her when she did, and it was all Serena could do not to weep in anguish at her best friends' faces. Mars was the only one that still had her face to the fire.

They were all in their Scouts' uniforms, not plainly dressed as they usually would have been in a meeting at the temple. They still looked the same, if not a bit older, and certainly more matured. Seated around the prophetic fire, their faces were masks, however, nearly all of them stony cold.

"Sailor Moon," Mercury was the first to respond softly, standing up and slowly walking towards her.

Serena wasn't sure what to do. Hug her best friend? Just stand still? What if they didn't want her at all?

"Why are you in your uniforms?" she whispered, her voice coming out weaker than she intended.

"To let you know that us being with you is purely professional," Mars snapped, jerking her head around from the fire and greeting her with blazing eyes, "We're not your friends any more, Serena. You threw that chance away years ago."

A million words were aching to tumble out of Serena's mouth, to explain why she had left, why she hadn't called. But she held her tongue and gathered the energy to nod through her shock. She had hoped that they would have heard her out, at least given her a chance to explain. They were obviously past that; forgiveness wasn't going to come.

Mercury was still standing in front of her, looking like she wanted to cry. Serena knew that she had missed her Moon Princess and best friend, but couldn't do anything because of the other Sailor Scouts. 

So, Serena just whispered, "Thank you", and tried to bare her emotions as strongly as possible through her eyes as they locked with Mercury's.

Her friend understood, and gave her a small smile before retreating back to her place next to the fire. Serena was left standing there, Luna just behind her.

"So?" Jupiter asked, her voice an odd mixture of coldness and need, "What's the problem?"

Serena sighed softly, and brought a finger up to play with the ends of her hair, a sign of nervousness that she hadn't shown for a long time. 

"I had a dream, where a Spirit came to me, calling itself the Spirit of the Sailor Team," she started tensely, still standing at her position by the doorway. Immediately, she saw Sailor Mercury whip out her laptop and begin furiously typing away, and Serena had to hold back a smile. Some things never change.

"It showed me the destruction of Tokyo by the Negaverse," she continued, purposely omitting the part about where they were possessed, "and said that all the death that I saw in my city would happen if I did not fight again."

Silence, and then Mars' bitter voice, "This isn't _your_ city any more, Sailor Moon. It's ours, the Sailor Scouts. And remember that _you're_ the one who needs _our_ help."

Serena was filled with grief at her words, and with a single nod to the rest of the Scouts, turned and quickly left the temple, running down the hill. Nearly tripping a couple of times, Serena ran blindly through Tokyo, tears obscuring her vision. After a few minutes, she found herself at the tranquil Fairview Park where Mr. Baxter kept his lovely roses. Panting, Serena slowed down, walking along the lakeside, memories of Darien, the Scouts and Rini flooding her mind. 

The lake filled Serena with quiet awe. The moonlight glinted off its surface, bathing the clear waters with a creamy glow. Not a ripple was seen, and it looked like glass. Looking up, a wistful smile graced her features as the horizon of Tokyo could be seen – multicoloured lights that created a blinking rainbow city. Leaning against a railing, Serena allowed silent tears to trickle down, before noticing that Luna was not with her. 

Wondering where she was, Serena looked around, before hearing footsteps approach, and seeing two shadowy figures appear down the sidewalk, masked in twilight. Hastily brushing a hand across her face to wipe off the moisture, Serena focused her senses on the figures. They didn't feel evil, so she turned back to the lake. 'Probably just a night couple,' she thought, playing with the edges of her hair again, 'like how Darien and I used to.'

The footsteps became louder as the couple neared, and suddenly, Serena felt a tingle creep up her spine. She wondered if she had mistaken the figures, and clutched the railing tightly. Then, it became clear as one of the figures spoke in shock.

"Serena?"

Darien. Serena shut her eyes briefly before turning to him with a fake smile pasted on. 

"Darien! Didn't expect to see you here," she said in an overly cheery tone.

Pause, and Serena had the time to take in the slim figure standing next to him. A raven-haired woman, clinging onto his arm, looking at her in curiousity.

"Neither did I," he replied, still in a stunned voice, "Where have you been?"

"Well, London, actually," Serena admitted.

Darien didn't reply, but bent down to whisper in the woman's ear. Serena watched them carefully, and saw a worried look flit across the woman's face, before nodding, and kissing Darien deeply. Serena turned away, feeling blood rise to her cheeks and her heart tear into pieces again. The calmness of the lake was perfectly opposing the torment that was ripping her apart.

When the woman had walked away down the dusky path, Serena was still looking at the lake. And she knew that Darien was standing beside her, scrutinizing her as he so often did in the past.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

She sighed. She knew it was coming, but was she ready?

"I couldn't," Serena whispered sadly, "I went through Hell before I left, Darien, and I just couldn't, not again."

"Couldn't what?" he demanded quietly, "I was there when you went through Hell, Serena. I went there and back with you, and you just left."

The Moon Princess turned her head slowly towards Darien. Blue eyes meeting with chocolate ones, she could easily read the despair and anger that were written all over his orbs. 'God, he still looks good,' she thought. But he was with someone else now, and the impact of his last words finally settled in on her.

"You have no idea!" she cried, breaking the stillness of the night, "You have no idea what it was like to lose _everyone_ to Chaos. What it was like to finally have all your dreams come true, only to have it ripped away by – "

She stopped. No, not yet. If he or the Scouts wanted to know, they would have to wait. A test of friendship, and they were already failing.

"By who?" Darien yelled.

Serena shook her head, and he sighed in exasperation. 

"Fine, Serena, keep your secrets," he spat, cutting Serena sharply, "I have someone else now. Someone who loves me and won't leave without a word. Someone who won't betray our relationship."

As he turned away to walk down the path where his partner had earlier, Serena softly said, "I'm only Sailor Moon here, Darien. Not Serena. The girl you knew is dead."

That made him halt in his steps, but he continued after a second, hands in his trademark duster.  Serena was left there, still staring at the water, but she lifted her eyes to the round moon and pleaded out to her mother.

'Please,' she begged silently, 'Please help me.'

And then a piercing scream ripped through the night.


End file.
